By PAMELA SAMPSON
AP Business Writer
BANGKOK (AP) - Asian stock
markets rose Monday, registering optimism after negotiations late last
week between President Barack Obama and leaders of Congress raised hopes
the U.S. would avoid its "fiscal cliff" before the end-of-the-year
deadline.
Obama met with the top
leaders of the House and Senate on Friday to discuss ways to avert a
series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take
effect Jan. 1 in the absence of intervening action. U.S. lawmakers have
said a budget deal before Christmas is possible.
Meanwhile, the yen's continuing weakness helped boost Japan's Nikkei 225. The index in Tokyo jumped 1.5 percent to 9,155.87.
Asian benchmarks were also
driven up by bargain-hunting after a week of losses. Hong Kong's Hang
Seng added 0.4 percent to 21,247.47 and South Korea's Kospi rose 1
percent to 1,878.48. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to
4,345.60.
U.S. stocks closed higher
for the first day in four Friday after Congressional leaders reported
progress in talks with Obama. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up
0.4 percent to 12,588.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.5
percent to 1,359.88. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.6 percent to
2,853.13.
Benchmark oil for December
delivery was up 60 cents to $87.52 per barrel in electronic trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.05 to finish at
$86.92 per barrel.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2758 from $1.2727 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 81.25 yen from 81.22 yen.
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2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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